Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands Trophy Competition - Page 1

Session OneSunday, 30th January 2011

Memories of Azad, The_Stacked_Nerd, 30/01/2011 18:52 (1)Story progression trophy - obtained after controls are learnt and with the introduction of Malik (the Prince's brother). I'll remind you that I received the first trophy and, as you can see, had started to power ahead of R834! *proud beam*

Acrobat, R834, 30/01/2011 18:55 (1)

I may have sacrificed my chance of earning the first trophy of the competition but I already knew Acrobat (which requires you to jump on 30 enemies' heads in a row) was one of the harder ones, so I put in the extra effort to get this early. It was a bit tricky to get, and rather infuriating when the Prince jumps into thin air and your combo is broken, but I managed to unlock it using a group of soldiers that spill out onto the battlements early in the game. I was very proud of my accomplishment, but I was now way behind The_Stacked_Nerd in terms of story.

Memories of Azad, R834, 30/01/2011 19:38 (2)

This is a story-related trophy, so you can see exactly how far we have progressed in comparison with each other. As you can tell from the time differences, I was now half an hour behind The_Stacked_Nerd. If he was to keep up this pace, I was never going to catch him up.

A Warm Welcome, The_Stacked_Nerd, 30/01/2011 19:40 (2)Another story progression trophy (there are a lot during the first part of the game), this time Malik is shown speaking. I took rather a long time to achieve this - I don't know exactly why, but I think I was doing some detailed exploration of the game (such as smashing every vase I found), and, as this was one of the first games I played on my new PS3, getting used to the camera angles and PS3 controls in general...

A Warm Welcome, R834, 30/01/2011 19:48 (3)

Despite The_Stacked_Nerd unlocking this second story-related trophy minutes after I'd unlocked the first one, I managed to get 'A Warm Welcome' only 8 minutes after he did. I don't know what had gone wrong for him, but I managed to complete the section of story between 'Memories of Azad' and 'A Warm Welcome' in 13 minutes, while he had taken 48 minutes!

Air Time, The_Stacked_Nerd, 30/01/2011 19:49 (3)As I find hacking and slashing attacks weak and unsatisfying, I tended to use aerial attacks and kicks/thrusts. This meant that I achieved this trophy, obtained by jumping on skellies and attacking them from their shoulders 20 times, very early on.

Anger Management, The_Stacked_Nerd, 30/01/2011 19:51 (4)As I dedicatedly and systematically smashed every vase I came across in order to obtain the power treats that may lurk inside (one of the reasons I was losing my lead on R834), I received this trophy relatively early on - giving me another 1up on R834! It took him quite a while to achieve this.

Death from Above, The_Stacked_Nerd, 30/01/2011 19:52 (5)Like air time, as the aerial slash was my preferred attack (to the normal weaker hacking and slashing), I achieved this trophy early, increasing the gap between me and R834 for a while.

Death from Above, R834, 30/01/2011 20:02 (4)

Having been alerted to this trophy by The_Stacked_Nerd unlocking it, I made sure I finished off all of my enemies with the Aerial Slash move, and I had this trophy in no time.

Solomon's Army, The_Stacked_Nerd, 30/01/2011 20:08 (6)Releasing the army was the creation of the plot in Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, and the awesome cut scene meant it's one point you won't forget! Although I achieved this before R834, he was catching up fast:

Solomon's Army, R834, 30/01/2011 20:09 (5)

The third story-related trophy showed I had shaved another 7 minutes of The_Stacked_Nerd's lead and I was now just a minute behind. He must have been getting a little nervous now, but I had reason to be as well: he was still one up in the trophy count.

Close Call, The_Stacked_Nerd, 30/01/2011 20:16 (7)Unless you're an utter pro or just plain sad (either way I admire you!), chances are you'll unlock this trophy at some point in the game. I achieved this 'accidentally' on the first obstacle after acquiring the power of time (the falling floors), and was amazed I got congratulated for using I second life... Easy trophy.

Close Call, R834, 30/01/2011 20:18 (6)

I'd be tempted to say this is a story-related trophy too, as I'm pretty sure you're forced to save the Prince's life with the Sands of Time power just after you unlock it. Either way, The_Stacked_Nerd was still only a little way ahead.

Ding! Level Up!, The_Stacked_Nerd, 30/01/2011 20:21 (8)With R834 catching up like a a CoD4 quickscoper, I was using everything I had to gain any trophy, no matter how small, and therefore keep my thinning throne. This trophy proved to be an easy lead, but it wasn't soon at all before he obtained it too... :(

Ding! Level Up!, R834, 30/01/2011 20:22 (7)

Got this trophy simply for purchasing an upgrade with my harvested points a minute after The_Stacked_Nerd. I really needed to step up my game if I was going to get ahead again.

Anger Management, R834, 30/01/2011 20:28 (8)

Having successfully smashed 100 vases, I was rewarded with another trophy and a direct joke at me from The_Stacked_Nerd regarding my sudden PSN Chat outburst of "I finally got Anger Management" - yeah, I'm sure you can see where that one went. I got the last laugh though, as I had caught up and we now had the same number of trophies.

Power Boost, R834, 30/01/2011 20:39 (9)

Ah, collectibles - a gamer's worst nightmare. Well, mine anyway. This trophy was for smashing a collectible sarcophagus, a giant blue, glowing... sarcophagus, which contains a load of health, energy and upgrade points. While rather helpful in collecting points towards your next upgrade, the fact that there's no form of chapter selection on this game means that missing one results in you having to go all the way back to the start - more on that later.

So our first play session ends with R834 ahead by one trophy and The_Stacked_Nerd and R834 are neck and neck in the story.

Session TwoFriday, 4th January 2011

Power Boost, The_Stacked_Nerd, 04/02/2011 17:03 (9)

Starting off this session with R834 miraculously in the lead, I was happy to get the first trophy. Practically handed to you on a silver platter (the game shows you the location of the first sarcophagus in a cut scene and even describes them to you), you would have to be either not bothered about trophies or a complete N00B not to achieve it. Nonetheless, it was satisfying to obtain.

Like Dominoes, R834, 04/02/2011 17:15 (10)

A bit of running around in circles allowed the sand skellies to form a tight enough group for me to kick down five of them at once, and landed me another trophy to keep ahead.Acrobat, The_Stacked_Nerd, 04/02/2011 17:24 (10)
Remembering (and cursing) that R834 had this trophy already, and that it was one of the select few he had got first so far, I relished the thought at taking his throne from him. Nearing the end of the story I came across a room in which an epic battle with skellies en masse was about to unfold, in which I quickly finished off one of R834 few exclusives. This is rated number 78 on PLAY's top 200 trophy list: 'Playing stepping-stones with sand warriors wasn't the Prince's idea of a good time. It was for us though'.

Like Dominoes, The_Stacked_Nerd, 04/02/2011 17:24 (11)
It took a while for me to find a group of skellies big enough, but once I had, this trophy was mine for the taking - there was nothing to it! And it was satisfying kicking the crap out of a load of skellies and watching them sprawl unceremoniously onto the ground at your feet. The only slightly difficult part in gaining this trophy was lining them up - and the larger the group, the easier it is: You had to grab their attention, run away and wait for them to form into a queue whilst creeping towards you. Simple.

Not How It Happened, R834, 04/02/2011 17:26 (11)

I wasn't going to let The_Stacked_Nerd get ahead that easily, and, although I must confess I didn't actually try for this trophy, my frantic speed-running errors had added up to just enough to net this trophy.

Floors Are For Losers, R834, 04/02/2011 17:27 (12)

And one more to keep me in front. I think I did try for this one, as I remember, running along every wall possible at the time; either that or I was just in a platforming section. Regardless, I was back in the lead!

Not How It Happened, The_Stacked_Nerd, 04/02/2011 17:28 (12)
Keeping me equalized, this trophy wasn't hard. Like R834, I hadn't aimed for this trophy. Needless to say, we both achieved (or were punished with) this trophy rather early on due to our race...

Big Finish, The_Stacked_Nerd, 04/02/2011 17:29 (13)
As I've already said, I hate using the hack 'n' slash attacks and went for the more refined and powerful aerial slash attacks, which cancelled out any chance of getting this trophy. Luckily, I did notice it early on after looking at the trophy list and it only took another group of skellies and I had it in the bag: jamming the square button 4 times and then holding it for a power attack isn't rocket science!

Air Time, R834, 04/02/2011 17:31 (13)

Finally getting a trophy that The_Stacked_Nerd unlocked during our first play session, I used the Aerial Slash technique on every enemy I saw, and soon after the trophy unlocked.

Big Finish, R834, 04/02/2011 17:31 (14)

And, within the same minute, quite accidentally, I unlocked Big Finish by defeating a foe with a Power Attack after a 5 hit combo. The sand skellie's demise had put me ahead again.

Floors Are For Losers, The_Stacked_Nerd, 04/02/2011 17:34 (14)
I don't know how R834 got this trophy so early on - it took me ages to get it! I think I finally caught this bugger it in the gardens, and I was thankful for the small, equalizing boost as the heat was really starting to turn up in the competition, with almost a trophy every minute in the last 10 minutes!

Just Us And Them, R834, 04/02/2011 17:52 (15)

Another story-related trophy, and, with The_Stacked_Nerd's 'Just Us And Them' still locked, it seemed as if I was finally getting in front.

Just Us And Them, The_Stacked_Nerd, 04/02/2011 17:55 (15)
Like R834 just mentioned, my story progression lead had just been smashed, and R834 was now leaving me behind in his tracks, even if it was only by three minutes. This was a big blow, however.

Stay Dry, R834, 04/02/2011 18:08 (16)

My trophy research had told me this could be a bit tricky and I attempted this for several minutes straight after I had unlocked the Power of Flow. My efforts were paid off with the unlock, and I hurriedly carried on with the game, praying that The_Stacked_Nerd hadn't got too far ahead in the meantime.

And Stay Down!, The_Stacked_Nerd, 04/02/2011 18:23 (16)
At first, I didn't even know this attack existed! I had to look up on the trophy list, and find out what it was. A pretty awesome attack, I generally used the finishing lunge there after as a follow up to a recovery kick. Once found, a very easy trophy.

Elemental Control, R834, 04/02/2011 18:25 (17)

Seeing my Stone Armour at Level 3, I spent my upgrade point on increasing it to Level 4 (fully upgraded) and up popped my trophy. However, the choice to upgrade the Stone Armour was not just for the sake of the trophy - all will be revealed soon.